This Time of Year
by drumbjo
Summary: On Christmas Eve, Sookie can't find boyfriend Eric, but does he have a good reason to be gone? Does he have something up his sleeve? Written for Xia Cheyenne for Sookie's Secret Santa Exchange.


Written for Sookie's Secret Santa Exchange for the lovely Xia Cheyenne. Thanks to Jan of Arc and Blakes Boogie for taking the time to organise the fic exchange.

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><p><em><strong>Title: <strong>__This Time of Year_

_**To: **__Xia Cheyenne_

_**Summary: **__On Christmas Eve, Sookie can't find boyfriend Eric, but does he have a good reason to be gone? Does he have something up his sleeve?_

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><p>"Eric … where the hell are you?"<p>

I was more than aware that growling into his voicemail wasn't productive, but it sure as hell made me feel better. He'd promised that he wouldn't be long. In fact, he'd promised that he wouldn't work at all on Christmas Eve, but something had 'come up' at the office and Eric was apparently the only one who could sort out whatever catastrophe it was.

Or so the slut of a business partner told him, apparently.

"Can you call me when you get this and please give me some indication of when the fuck you're going to be home? I'm fed up of this, Eric. I wanted Christmas to ourselves." I stopped and took a deep breath so that I wouldn't say anything I'd later regret. "Just call me, okay? And please come home soon."

I'd planned it all. As Jason was spending Christmas in California with his new wife's family, and Eric's parents were on some Caribbean cruise, it meant that Eric and I could have some time alone together without any interruption.

But of course, I hadn't factored in him spending every goddamn minute in the office. And I knew that I was being bitchy and troublesome as this business venture was new and Christmas was a busy time for a restaurant, but he has specifically promised me that he wouldn't work at all over Christmas, and I had believed him.

It had been ten in the morning that he'd left me to go to work after apparently getting an urgent email. I'd been cuddling up to his side in a blissful state between sleeping and full-out groping him, and I was certain that we were probably only a few moments away from stripping off the minimal clothes I was wearing and for him to bury himself deep inside me.

But now it was five in the evening and I'd not heard a peep from him all day. I'd considered venting to Amelia, but she was having her own happy Christmas with new husband Tray Dawson, and I didn't want to disturb them. And most of my other friends had their own Christmas plans with their families. Even Eric's sister Pam was shacked up with some woman she'd met a few months earlier. And she was the biggest commitmentphobe on the planet.

I'd been debating over the last few hours whether to go to the restaurant to check on him, but I wasn't sure I could think of an excuse. But as time went on, I had more of a nagging suspicion that something was up. I'd even found myself checking the local news on the internet to make sure there weren't any reports of armed robberies or fires in the district of Eric's new restaurant.

At half past six, I gave in, grabbed my keys and ran to my car. It was raining hard as the weather seemed to be perfectly matching my mood, and I was aware that my baggy sweater and ratty, faded jeans combo was in direct opposition to what everyone else in the restaurant would be wearing. But at that point, I was beyond caring and set out for the forty-five minute drive towards Shreveport hoping that I'd be able to keep my tears away. Or at least until I wasn't driving or knew what the hell was going on.

The parking lot to the restaurant was unsurprisingly full when I got there, so I had to park at the far end of the lot around the back of the restaurant. Which was good for some reasons as it meant that it was easy for me to slip around to the back door so I didn't have to walk through the restaurant with everyone staring at me. I didn't want to see happy couples who were celebrating the day as I should be.

Luckily for me, the door was unlocked and I was able to slip into the administrative area of the restaurant and head for the small office that Eric shared with new business partner Sophie-Anne Le Clerq. In many ways I was dreading opening that door, as I didn't want to see any visuals of my boyfriend of two years fucking the skinny redhead.

I didn't knock.

I simply opened the door and took in the sights. Which was, of course, just Sophie-Anne sat behind her desk with the phone glued to her ear while she scribbled down notes from the phone conversation. Eric was nowhere to be seen, and his desk was tidy and seemingly unused.

I went to back out of the office, but Sophie-Anne held up a hand to indicate for me to stay where I was, and she ended her call thirty seconds later.

"Sorry – I … I was looking for Eric. I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll be off…"

It was all I could do to not burst into tears. Eric had lied to me. He wasn't here at all, and from the looks of it, he hadn't been here at all.

"I haven't seen him," she said sweetly but, annoyingly, not at all condescendingly. I'd only met her once before, and I hadn't been her biggest fan. But then I'd never really given her a chance and I'd not liked the fact that she was an attractive and single woman who obviously lusted after my man. "It's his day off today."

"I know," I whispered with a shuddering breath. "He left first thing this morning to come here. I'm guessing he didn't."

"Sookie –"

"It's okay. I'll just be going home now."

"Have you called him?"

I snorted in an unladylike fashion. "I've been calling him all fucking day but his phone's going straight to answerphone."

"I'm sure there's an explanation…" She trailed off, obviously unable or unwilling to provide me with one.

"Yeah, I'm sure there is." My sarcasm was biting. "If he does decide to put in an appearance can you tell him to fuck off for me."

"Sookie –"

"Nice to see you, Sophie-Anne. And I'm sorry I interrupted you."

I bowed quickly out of her office and ran out the back of the restaurant. It only then occurred to me that I hadn't thought to look for Eric's car when I arrived, and it was distinctly obvious that the cherry red corvette was nowhere to be seen in the parking lot. As I climbed into my Toyota I couldn't keep the tears away any more and I finally gave into my emotions.

I must have been sitting there crying for ten minutes before I managed to pull myself together and wipe the tears from my eyes. In truth, I was worried. And not just that he was cheating on me, but that something may have happened to him. I decided that I'd get home and see if any messages had been left on the house phone, and then phone around the local hospitals to see if he'd been admitted to any one of them, as well as calling the local police.

I didn't want to do that, but I had to be practical in case something had happened as I knew I'd hate myself if I hadn't done everything possible. But I still knew what the more likely alternative was, and I didn't want to think about that either.

The drive back to Bon Temps was long and tortuous. The weather had become worse in the last hour or so, and the torrential rain from earlier on in the day had returned with a vengeance. I drove as slowly as I could, but the visibility was shockingly bad and I'd never been a fan of driving in the dark at the best of times. And having tears in my eyes wasn't making things any easier.

As I was only a few miles outside of Bon Temps, my phone started to ring. I tried to grab it while concentrating on the road ahead, but by the time I had it in my hand, my battery had given up. It seemed that I'd spent all day checking my phone and calling Eric's voicemail, but I'd forgotten to charge the damned thing.

I threw it into the passenger seat foot-well and headed on home, trying not to be distracted with the possibility that Eric had finally managed to contact me. When I pulled up into the drive, the first thing I noticed was that the missing Corvette was now parked in its usual spot.

Eric was home.

And I hoped to all things holy that he had a good excuse for himself as I was in no mood to be brushed off or fed more lies. I stayed still in the car for a few minutes to compose myself before stepping out into the lashing rain and legging it in the direction of the house. I almost jumped up the porch steps to get out of the rain, and pushed open the door to the house.

It was technically my house, having been left to me by my Gran who'd passed away eighteen months earlier, but as Eric had moved in with me only a few weeks after her death, I'd seen the place as ours. But now, things were eerily quiet.

Leaving on lights all over the house was one of the things that really bugged me about Eric, but on this occasion, other than the porch light, no other lights seemed to be on in the house.

"Eric?"

There was no answer to my question, and I stepped first into the kitchen and then the living room, but didn't find him in either.

"Eric? Are you here?" my voice was a little more panicked this time.

I took off my coat and boots, dumping them messily in the hallway and heading on deeper into the house.

But all was not as it should be. There was a faint perfume smell in the air that reminded me of honey and jasmine, and there was a soft glow coming from underneath the closed bedroom door.

"Eric?"

My voice was beginning to fail me, and I could feel that I was on the verge of tears once more. I swallowed thickly before placing a hand on the doorknob and pushing open the bedroom door.

The room was lit by the soft glow of at least thirty candles, and our California king sized bed was covered in red satin sheets as opposed to the normal off-white brushed cotton. My breath caught in my throat as I surveyed the scene in front of me, and I turned to my right to see Eric standing there.

And what a sight that was.

He had a wicked smile on his lips, a glint in his eye and he was wearing nothing but two Santa hats.

One of his head, and the other over his male parts.

I felt my mouth drop open as I stared at him, and I couldn't quite find the words to express what the hell was on my mind. And that was because my brain was mush.

I was still pissed at him for being gone all day and lying to me about where he was, but I was also shocked and amazed at the effort he'd gone to.

"What –"

He didn't let me finish whatever I was going to say, stepping up closer to me and wiping his thumbs underneath both of my eyes to get rid of any remaining tears.

"I'm sorry, Sookie. I can explain, and I will. But right now you're over-dressed."

His voice was a purr, and his warm hands stroked under my baggy sweater and pulled it off me. He carefully dropped it in the corner of the room that didn't have any candles in it before moving his hands to the top of my jeans, undoing them and sliding them down to the floor. I obediently stepped out of them and moaned at the feeling of Eric's large hands running up and down my legs.

"Why are you –"

I was again stopped from speaking by his lips trapping mine in a searing kiss as his arms snaked around me and undid my bra with his nimble fingers. I wanted to pull away from his kiss and give him a piece of my mind, but my thoughts were other places and my body was giving in to his familiarity.

When I was standing in only a pair of black panties, he stepped back and drank me in. His eyes were blazing as they ran over me, but I was distracted by his body.

His size and body had probably been the first thing I'd noticed about him when I met him in that club in Shreveport exactly two years previous, and it was still one of the many things I loved and appreciated about him. And standing there in the candle light of the room, he looked truly spectacular.

He was tall; a good six-foot-four to my five-foot-five, and he had wide shoulders, strongly muscled and well-defined arms, and a torso that an Armani model would be jealous of. He was gorgeous, beautiful, but completely masculine. And that wasn't to mention the part of his anatomy that was being covered up by the lower of the two Santa hats.

A hat that seemed to be defying gravity.

"What is all this in aid of?"

I met his eyes, but couldn't help the jolt of fear that ran through me. He took a step closer to me and placed his warm hands on my upper arms.

"This is all for you. I am all for you. I'm yours, Sookie. Absolutely, truly and completely. And I want you to be mine."

He dropped to one knee in front of me and opened a small dark blue box that he'd picked up from somewhere or other. And in that moment I felt my stomach bottom out as my heart did somersaults within my chest. Was he going to ask what I thought he might?

We'd never really discussed marriage, and I'd always thought he wasn't too hot on the idea. But here he was in front of me on one knee, and I watched him slowly open the box to reveal a beautiful diamond solitaire ring.

"Eric," I gasped, my hand moving to my mouth and tears forming in my eyes.

"I love you, Sookie Stackhouse. And I am so sorry that today hasn't gone as I planned. I had to drive all the way to Dallas to pick up the ring, and the traffic was terrible…" he trailed off and I could see the truth in his eyes as well as sorrow for worrying me. "I should have been gone only a few hours at the most."

I reached out and placed my hand onto the side of his face. "It's okay," I whispered.

"I'll make it up to you, Sookie. I promise." He moved my hand and placed a kiss on my palm. "But as I was saying, I love you, and you're the one for me. I've known that since the moment I saw you, and in some ways I'm amazed that I've lasted this long without doing this."

He took the ring out of its box and held it between his thumb and first two fingers.

"Sookie, will you marry me?"

I didn't need any thinking time. "Yes. Yes, a thousand times, yes."

He slid the beautiful ring onto the fourth finger of my left hand, and of course it fitted perfectly. He then stood up and pushed me into the wall, my bare breasts crushed into his chest and my finger nails digging into his back as he kissed me hard and passionately.

When he finally let me go he stepped back and smiled at me, tears in his own eyes, which were shining in the candle light.

"Did you really just propose to me while wearing nothing but a Santa hat?" I asked with a knowing smile. "And with me in only a pair of black panties?"

"Yeap," he said with a devilish grin. "It's how I like you best. Well, I'd prefer you completely naked, but this is the next best option. And these," he snapped the elastic on the side to emphasise his point, "are about to be obliterated."

He literally ripped my panties off me and threw them somewhere over his head and behind him. Luckily they didn't manage to fall on any of the candles lighting the room.

"Are you planning on setting the house alight?" I teased as he started to nibble down my neck.

"I didn't, did I?" he whispered as he paused between sucks and licks. "And anyway, it'd be worth it."

He ran his large, warm hands all over my body, focusing on my hips and then breasts as he palmed each one in turn and tweaked my nipples.

I gave my own hands a workout as they ran a course over his firm body, making their own way to his glorious ass and squeezing hard.

"Always my ass, Sookie. There are other parts of me which are feeling neglected."

He rubbed his still Santa hat covered cock against my stomach. "I think that gracious plenty is over-dressed."

I reached down between us and undid the elastic that was keeping it in place and dropped the lower of the Santa hats on the floor. He removed the one from his head on his own.

"Bed," he growled into my ear, giving me almost no chance to move before he manhandled me onto the red satin and climbed on top of me. "You're mine, Sookie. And I can't wait to fucking marry you." His voice was deep and sexy, and I swear my Bones rattled at the feel of it. And I loved his darkly possessive words, I loved how much he wanted me.

And I wanted him just as much.

"Fuck me, Eric, make me yours."

I didn't need any warming up as I was already soaked, and quite simply there would be time for soft and gentle later. I wanted to be claimed, and I wanted Eric to be the one claiming me. He sheathed himself inside me in one fluid stroke, and I nearly came that instant. My nails were digging into his shoulders as he started to pound into me, taking long strokes in a controlled manner but pushing in further and further until I felt so full.

"Fuck Sookie," he groaned as he started biting into my shoulder, his hip movements becoming more ragged as he pumped harder.

It didn't take much for me to explode into orgasm, and Eric stiffened and swelled inside me, my orgasm triggering his. But he didn't withdraw and somehow remained hard despite the fact that he'd just come inside me. Although his movements slowed down and we both were panting for want of oxygen, he kept up his steady pumping, and before long I was on the verge of another shattering orgasm.

When he finally rolled off me, both of us feeling decidedly satiated, I snuggled up to his side. My right arm was wrapped over his chest, and my right leg was draped over his.

"I am sorry about today," he whispered into my hair. "I'd planned on just popping up to Shreveport and then coming straight back. I wanted to give you the ring today as it's our two-year anniversary, so I started to drive to Dallas to go and get it, and then I managed to drop my phone in a puddle so I couldn't call you …"

"Do you think you could just delete those messages I left you?" I was ashamed at how snarky I'd been in the voicemail I'd left him.

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter, and I don't blame you. When I finally got home and you weren't here, I really feared the worst. I thought maybe you'd left me or something."

I sat up to face him. "I wouldn't. I was annoyed, and maybe if anything I thought you were with someone else. I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions."

He ran his thumb across my check. "That's okay. I don't blame you. But anyway, I called Sophie-Anne figuring that you'd go there to look for me. She told me you'd left half an hour ago, so I have to admit that I was worried it was taking you so long to get back."

"The weather was crap, so I drove slowly. I was worried about you, I thought you might have had an accident or something."

He sighed and pulled me tight to him. "I had such big plans for today and this evening. At least you said 'yes'."

I smiled into his chest. "There was never any other answer. I love you, Eric Northman. I can't imagine being without you. And I'm always going to love Christmas because of you."

He snorted. "Says you who didn't want to be at that Christmas party two years ago."

He had a point there.

My friend Amelia had dragged me to Shreveport on Christmas Eve as her boyfriend Tray was DJing at a new club that had opened the previous month. I'd not long split from my former boyfriend Bill Compton, so wasn't really in the party mood. But Amelia was desperate for me to go and I reluctantly agreed.

She'd also made me wear a scandalously short and revealing red Santa dress, which came complete with white faux-fur trim. Looking back, I can't believe that I agreed to wear it, but Amelia was insistently bugging me to wear it, so I gave in. But it did get me noticed by the bar's owner: one Eric Northman.

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><p>"Well isn't this a merry Christmas?"<p>

I was standing at the bar and looked in the direction of the accented voice, only to get a face full of chest. When I looked up I saw a pair of beautiful pale blue eyes staring down at me and a grin that bordered on a smirk.

But he was hot. Probably the hottest guy I had ever seen, with natural blond hair, bronze skin, great cheekbones and what looked like a hard and muscled body.

"Can I get you a drink?"

I simply nodded, my voice failing me as I stared at him.

"Do you speak?"

I nodded again before realising what I was doing and forcing my vocal cords to work. "Yes … Yes, I do."

He smiled. "What can I get you?"

"A gin and tonic please."

He indicated to the barman who served him immediately despite the huge crowd surrounding us. He got a beer for himself and led me away from the throng of the bar area to a booth in the corner which had amazingly been left empty. I followed him without question despite the fact that I'd never even seen him before.

"What's your name?"

"Sookie. Sookie Stackhouse."

He held out a large hand across the table, and I slipped mine inside his without hesitation. "Nice to meet you, Sookie Stackhouse. I'm Eric Northman, and I own this fine establishment."

Although we'd shaken hands, I found myself even then finding it difficult to let of his warm hand. It strangely felt very right.

"Hi, Eric." I gave him a sweet smile and his eyes smouldered in return.

"Who are you here with, Sookie?"

"My friend, Amelia. Her boyfriend is the DJ."

He seemed to remember or recognise something. "Right, Dawson's girlfriend. She didn't tell me that she had such attractive friends."

I found myself getting annoyed with Amelia for not telling me she'd met this God before. But then again, I'd also told her that under no circumstance did I want to be set up with any other men.

He continued. "You're not here with a boyfriend, then?"

"No. No boyfriend."

A smile spread to his lips. "I can't imagine a woman as sexy and beautiful as you can be single." His voice was liquid sex as he leaned across the table to whisper to me, and I became highly aware that not only did he still have possession of my hand, but he was also rubbing soft circles into my pulse point.

I swallowed thickly. "I am. I split from my last boyfriend a few months back."

"He was obviously a fool."

I couldn't disagree with that statement. But more to the point, I couldn't believe that a man such as Eric would be single. And for all I knew, he wasn't.

"And you?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't have a boyfriend either." He raised an eyebrow in challenge, and I had to get a control of myself as I thought about him being with another, equally good-looking man.

"I meant girlfriend, or wife, or whatever." I was aware that I was sounding like an idiot.

He shook his head, a more serious expression appearing on his face. "No. I was engaged up until a year ago, but she ran off with my best friend."

Jeez, why the hell would any woman choose someone else over this deity I didn't know. "I'm sorry, that must have been tough."

He shrugged his shoulders. "It was, but I'm over it now. Good riddance to the pair of them, I say. I see better things in my future." His eyes were back to smouldering again as he gazed over my bare shoulders to the top of the strapless dress. "Do you care to dance?"

"I love to dance," I told him enthusiastically.

He downed his beer and stood up next to me. "Well then, Sookie Stackhouse, would you do me the honour of joining me on the dance floor." I drained my G&T and did just that.

And boy could the man move. I'd have thought that maybe a man as tall and muscular as he was wouldn't be very good, but he had great style and fantastic moves and it didn't take long for the two of us to settle into a happy rhythm where his large hands were gripping my hips and pulling me close to him.

"I like the feel of your body against mine, Sookie," he purred in my ear during a lull in the music. And I had to agree with him. I felt safe in his arms, and something just felt … right.

Once we'd danced together for around half an hour he pulled me to the side of the dance floor and flattened me against the wall; his hard body flush against mine, and his fingers stroking down my arms.

"If I asked if I could kiss you, would you let me?"

I subconsciously licked my lips at the thought of it and nodded my consent. He moved down slowly and the loud music in the room seemed to fade out of my consciousness. All I was aware of was him and my rapidly beating heart.

His lips were soft and full as he placed them on mine, and he kissed me gently, testing my reaction at first and pulling back a little. My hands shot to his upper arms in an attempt to keep him where he was, and I felt him smile against my lips as he moved back closer to me. This time his kiss was deeper and more demanding, and I was more than happy to give him everything he wanted. In fact, if he'd asked for it then I'd have given him everything.

Of course, good things didn't last, and we were unfortunately interrupted by someone bumping into us, and then Eric being dragged away to sort out some problem with a barrel of beer. But before he left me he gave me his number and promised that he'd be back. And he didn't fail on that promise. We spent most of the night together that evening as Amelia had decided to join Tray in the DJ booth, and even had a little alone time in his office where we wouldn't be interrupted.

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><p>"I still have it, you know."<p>

"The dress?"

"Yeap."

Eric raised an eyebrow, a twinkle in his eye. "I think you should put it on for me then. Or should tomorrow, anyway. I'm enjoying you naked right now."

He ran his large hands over my body and I shuddered with the usual delight I felt whenever he touched me.

"What do you say to a Christmas Eve wedding next year. Do you think you can wait that long?"

I smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I'd happily marry you tomorrow, but that sounds great. Can we keep it intimate, you know, just family and close friends."

"Fine with me, but you know it'll be Pam and Amelia you need to reign in."

I rolled my eyes knowing at how much Amelia was going to love this. She'd been a complete Bridezilla for her own wedding, and I could only imagine she wouldn't be much better for me if I gave her the chance. And coupled with Pam's presence as well, it would be a tall order to keep the pair of them contained.

"You're right there." I moved so that I was straddling him, and I felt him harden underneath me again. "But it's our day, so we'll be doing what we want."

Eric sighed contently and kissed me gently. The chime from the grandfather clock in the hallway indicated that it was midnight and officially Christmas day.

"Happy Christmas, Sookie."

"Happy Christmas, Eric."

Eric ran his hands over me and I slid down onto his hard cock. It was going to be a very happy Christmas indeed.

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><p>I hope everyone (and especially Xia Cheyenne) enjoyed the fic, and that everyone had a good Chirstmas.<p> 


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